Sometimes life can fall into a sort of warp zone where time slows down and speeds up simultaneously and before you know it two months have passed and you haven’t updated your blog…

It’s not that I’ve had nothing to write about. Far from it. This summer has been full of explorations, discoveries, and ideas that I am bursting to share with you all. No, that’s not it.

It’s just that I have had a 12 year old living with me.

So I need to start this post by bowing down to all of my parent friends – especially you single parents – in empathy, understanding, and appreciation, because it is A LOT of work! Granted, I’ve been in “entertainment” mode, wanting to give my niece the ultimate European summer that she will remember forever. And I think I’ve been successful, capping it off this weekend with a dream trip to Paris that will be filled with all sorts of wonderful clichés like photos from the top of the Eiffel Tower, exclaiming over how small the Mona Lisa is in real life, ice cream at Berthillon and macarons at Laduree, shopping on the Champs Elysee, and of course long strolls through Paris’ many beautiful parks and picturesque streets…

Besides another idealic weekend spent in Italy (Venice! Verona!), we spent most of the summer in Munich and the surrounding countryside. The summer has been nearly perfect here. Mostly, we've had a lot of long, hot days spent﻿ grilling﻿, swimming, and eating ice cream.

And there have been some fantastic discoveries that I will make sure to add to the relevant “recommendation” pages here on the blog, but for a short-cut and a little taste of what this summer in Munich has been all about, here is a list of some of the highlights:

And last but not least, this summer I have learned that alcohol free Wheat Beer (especially Erdinger) is actually really good, and I am no longer a judger/hater. I have officially joined the ranks of all the Germans who regularly order alcohol free beer… which until now somehow seemed totally pointless and weird to me. But you know what, it’s really refreshing and tastes almost exactly like beer! But without the alcohol. Amazing. But only Weissbier. Never ever order alkoholfreies Helles.

It's that time of year again, and though I'm not actually at the beer garden this Tuesday, I'm there in spirit.

This summer I'm determined to visit some of my old favorites, and also to expand into the outer realms of Munich and visit beer gardens like the Kugler Alm, the Wirtshaus am Bavariapark, and the Münchner Haupt.

First though, I stopped off at an old favorite right in the heart of Munich: the Muffatwerk. It's right on the Isar, across from the Deutsches Museum, and also happens to be located at one of the best concert venues in town. So I especially recommend a biergarten/concert combination night when you go to the Muffatwerk.

Or if you're not in the mood for a concert, and it's a beautiful summer evening, you can take a stroll along the river before or after a beer, as the garden leads right down to the river path.

Oh, and unlike many other beer gardens, this place happens to have really good salads. You know, just in case you want to offset some of the calories in your massive beer, or take a break from the ubiquitous German fare during your trip to Munich.

I really like dips. And this is the time of year to experiment most, because it's a good side dish at a barbecue, along with some crisp, fresh vegetables, bread, or crackers. Easy peasy!

Labneh is one of my favorites. If you haven't tried it before, it belongs to the world of delicious strained yogurt-based "dips" or "cheeses". Kind of like how I make tzatziki. Labneh comes from the Middle East (as do most of the best dips in the world, I would say. After all, they perfected the mezze platter, which is basically just a feast of dips and their accompaniments).

I also really like to top my dips with olive oil, spices, nuts, and chiffonaded herbs. It's all very fancy. Labneh doesn't need it and can be enjoyed in it's beautiful simplicity, perhaps just with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of seasoning, but the nuts and herbs do make it somehow "special" as a dish to bring to a party.

Labneh with Pistachios and Mint Chiffonade

The most important tip here is to use good quality olive oil. It really make a difference! Oh, and you have to make this the night before, because the yogurt strains overnight in the refrigerator. And then, if you are at a barbecue, you can throw some pita bread on the grill to toast it, and then serve with this dip. If you're at home, try eating labneh like Frisch Käse or any other spreadable cheese, slathered on a nice thick slide of warm bread for breakfast.

Directions:1. Mix a little salt into the yogurt. Then scoop the yogurt into a strainer that has been lined either with cheesecloth or coffee filters. I use a wire mesh strainer, and place it over a bowl in the refrigerator so that the liquid drains out through the filters and strainer, into the bowl. 2. Let drain overnight in the refrigerator.3. In the morning, scoop out the "yogurt cheese" into a serving bowl.4. Drizzle the labneh with olive oil, and then sprinkle on all the other toppings.5. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I left Munich in the middle of a blazing hot summer day, and I have returned to a raining, sopping mess. Having neglected to bring an umbrella on this latest trip, I trudged home through the wet, let myself into my apartment, towel-dried my hair, and determined to curl up on the couch for the rest of the evening.

And I don't really mind, because it's so gemütlich with the rain dripping through the leaves outside the window, music drifting through the apartment, and the scent of home-baked cookies wafting from the oven. All I need is a good book.

You know how people say there are certain words in different languages that simply don't translate? It's true, and those are the words that I love the most....

In German, one of those words is Gemütlichkeit. It is most often translated to mean "comfortable" or "cozy" but it means so much more than that. It's a feeling that a room, or a space, emanates... you walk into a restaurant or someone's home and it's just so gemütlich. It's a value that we toast to - you know that song at Oktoberfest when everyone lifts their glasses and clinks it with their neighbor's? Yep, they're toasting to der Gemütlichkeit. It means something like happiness, health, acceptance, good cheer, security, warmth, hospitality, and coziness all rolled into one. It's a good word.

When the weather gets nice, I (and pretty much everyone in Munich) head outdoors to make the most of the sunshine. That usually means a lot of time on bicycle. And while it is a wonderful thing to be cruising around town on a cycle, the temptation to stop at one of Munich's excellent gelato shops can be tempting. And I do. Often. Well, okay, not all the time, but they are only open in the summer, so I have to make the most of the short ice cream season, right? But sometimes, tempting though an ice cream may be, I want something different, but equally refreshing. Those are the times I head to the Viktualienmarkt for a fresh-squeezed juice.

There are two competing stands at the Viktualienmarkt that offer fresh-squeezed juice mixes, and they are popular places on sunny afternoons. You can usually spot the line of people from across the market (but that's no different from the ice cream shops, where lines are known to stretch down the street!). My favorite juice stand is Schenk und Schmidt, where you can get pretty much any juice you want made from any fruit or vegetable in season. And there are affordable basics, like orange and carrot, or apple and ginger, as well as more complicated or "exotic" juices with all the add-ins you could possibly want, like wheatgrass, or chili. Directly across from Schenk und Schmidt is the very appropriately called Saftladen ("juice shop"), which is also very good...

Can it be... is summer possibly around the corner? In Munich, you can never really know (it swings wildly from snowing one day to bright and sunny the next), but the temperatures do seem to be on the rise. So if you haven't already, its time to pull your grill, hammock, bike, and frisbee out of the cellar and prepare for the best time of the year in Munich! Hurrah! Here we come beautiful summer evenings on the riverside, bicycle rides through town, lakeside picnics and swims, beer gardens and time to just hang out.

Just the thought of summer brings a smile to my face!

So today, rather than writing a new post, I thought I would just remind you of some old "favorites" that will help you make the most of Munich's summer.

We, of course, start with the beer gardens. I've profiled many of Munich's beer gardens over the last couple of years in my series on Beer Garden Tuesdays (a tradition which I will do my utmost to reprise this summer, but which sadly I can already predict as being rather difficult with my current work schedule. Doh.) Perhaps my most useful posts on Munich's beer gardens are the following though:

And you can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes, right? These are a new favorite. I can't claim that they surpass my all-time favorite mesquite chocolate chip cookies, but they are pretty delicious, and well-worth taking the butter out of the refrigerator right now, so that you can have some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies later today... you're already convinced, aren't you?

The things that set these cookies apart are the sprinkling of sea salt on top, the larger-than-usual chunks of chocolate (or, as I made it this time, discs of chocolate), the crunch of pure cane sugar, a hint of cinnamon, and a heavy emphasis on brown sugar. Plus, it's an easy recipe that does not involve any hard to find ingredients or complicated instructions. Just throw it all in a bowl, and mix it up, and voila, deliciousness.

If you don't feel like baking, you can also just swing by my place for a visit any time. I've got a log of this cookie dough in the freezer, ready for spontaneously fresh baked cookies. I've told you about that secret before, right? Keeping cookie dough in the freezer is a must, because who doesn't have cravings every now and then? And supermarket cookies are so not worth it. If you're going to eat something that makes you start calculating the number of laps you're going to have to run around the park to make up for it, well, it might as well be the best of the best! Also, there is nothing better that you can offer a dinner guest than fresh-baked cookies. Try it.

1/2 cup (110 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature2 Tbsp (25 g) granulated sugar2 Tbsp (25 g) turbinado sugar (aka Sugar in the Raw; or in Germany, brauner Zucker)3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (165 g) packed light or dark brown sugar (not to be confused with the German brauner Zucker- this is the sticky American version, which can also be found in Asian shops in Germany)1 egg1 tsp vanilla extract1 tsp cinnamon3/4 tsp baking soda1/4 tsp salt1 3/4 cups (220 grams) all-purpose flour1/2 pound (225 grams) semi- or bittersweet chocolate, cut into roughly 1/2-inch chunks OR those large discs of chocolate that you can buy sometimes in specialty stores- they're good to stock up on and keep on hand for recipes like this one.Flaky sea salt, to finishDirections:1. Heat oven to 360°F/180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 3. Add egg and vanilla, beating until incorporated, and scraping down the bowl as needed. 4. Beat in the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until combined. The dough will look crumbly at this point. With a large spoon, stir in the chocolate chunks.5. Form balls of dough a little smaller than a golf ball and place on baking tray. Sprinkle each with a few flakes of sea salt. 6. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until beginning to turn golden on the outside but still very gooey and soft inside. 7. These are great straight out of the oven, but somehow even better a few hours later...

I haven't posted a new recipe in a while, but rest assured, I have been baking. You know how I am though... I will only post something once I believe that it is "ready" for the official go-live. And that usually means several tweaks to a recipe before I decide it is officially ready. So it went with these strawberry cupcakes. They've had several iterations, and here is where we finally arrived. I hope it's been worth the wait!

For me, this recipe began years and years ago when I lived in Washington, DC. That was the time of the cupcake craze, and everyone used to go to Georgetown Cupcakes and stand in a line that went around the block, waiting for one of their famous cupcakes. Never a fan of lines, I always went down the street to the more tucked-away Baked & Wired, and simply strolled right into the store for one of the best cupcakes in town. Normally, I would default to something more decadent, or stick with the glorious vanilla-on-vanilla, but for some reason, that first time, I was drawn to the strawberry cupcake. And it was the right decision. Fruit-flavored cupcakes of the store bought variety often have a slightly chemical edge to them- you know they are full of artificial flavors and colors - but not these. They rely completely on fresh, perfectly in season strawberries, with juices that run so red and sweet that the frosting becomes naturally pink.

Since moving away from DC, I've been looking to replicate those cupcakes at home. And now that it is strawberry season, and the grocery stores and market stalls are fragrant with strawberries, I decided it was finally time to "find" my recipe.

This one is pretty close. The base is a typical yellow cake with fresh strawberries sliced into it. The final frosting that I decided to go for is a meringue buttercream, which is lighter and more subtle than a typical buttercream. I think it's fitting for this cupcake, because I wanted it to be fruity and fresh, rather than heavy and rich.

Anyway, I took them to a friend's birthday yesterday, and they were a hit! If you're in the U.S. I recommend maybe trying these out for your Memorial Day weekend... whatever your plans.

Strawberry Cupcakes

This recipe makes approximately 18 cupcakes - so a batch and a half. The only really important thing to know is to use really fresh, sweet strawberries. So I wouldn't attempt to make these cupcakes out of season- it's a spring/early summer recipe. Also, watch your bake time. Often, the second batch will be ready closer to the 25 minute mark, whereas the first might take the full 30 minutes. It depends on your oven of course!

1¼ cups (200 g) white flour1/2 Tbsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt1/2 cup (110 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar1 tsp vanilla extract2 eggs1/2 cup (240 g) whole milk1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberriesFor the Strawberry Meringue Buttercream:6-8 strawberries, coarsely chopped2 egg whites1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar3/4 cup (165 g) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperatureDirections:1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.2. Whisk together both flours, baking powder and salt; set aside.3. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, beating until each is fully incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to medium/low and add the flour in two batches, alternating with the milk, and beating until well combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries by hand.4. Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake until golden and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.5. To make the Strawberry Meringue Buttercream, puree the strawberries in a food process or blender until very smooth; set aside.6. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (to make your own double boiler). Whisk constantly by hand or with a handheld electric mixer (the latter is easier) until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved.7. Remove from the heat, and continue to mix until stiff peaks form. It should take about 10 minutes.8. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition, mix for about 2 minutes. Add the strawberry puree and beat until combined - it may look grainy at first, but just keep mixing and it will return to it's smooth consistency. 9. Decorate the Cupcakes! Spread or pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake. Make them extra pretty by adding a leaf of basil and a strawberry to the top of each cupcake.

It's time to get out and do a little exploring again! Lately my life has fallen into comfortable habits. I work a lot. I travel to the same places for work - Madrid, Toulouse, Paris, and Seville mostly (all great places). On weekends, I either hang around my favorite coffee shops and restaurants in the neighborhood (it takes soooo much energy to venture beyond the boundaries of Maxvorstadt), or maybe we go grilling or have a dinner party, or I go to the mountains. That's the Munich life, and I love it.

But I haven't been to as many new restaurants lately.

And I definitely haven't been exploring the little towns and other treasures nearby. Until last weekend, when lucky for me, another friend organized a day trip to Landsberg am Lech, and all I had to do was be at the train station at the specified time. It's good to have friends who do all the planning!

After 5 years here, I knew nothing about this town. A pity! Landsberg is only a short distance from Munich (less than an hour on the train, and probably only 45 minutes by car), and it is part of Germany's Romantic Road, which runs from Würzburg south to Füssen. Just like the other towns along the Romantic Road, Landsberg is a small, perfectly-formed Bavarian town, surrounded by attractive countryside. The cobblestone streets lead to ornate churches, boutique shops, and restaurants serving traditional food. The Lech river cuts through the town, and there is an attractive, riverside walk with ice cream dealers and tables where you can sit out in the sun and order a beer or a glass of wine.

It's not as popular as some of it's neighbor towns on the Romantic Road, so a visit here could introduce you to some of the charms of this region, without the hordes of tourists (I think - it wasn't too crowded last weekend, but it might get busier during the summer high season).

As do many towns in this region, Landsberg does have a darker side. It was here where Hitler was imprisoned and penned Mein Kampf. It was also the site of a well-known Nazi concentration camp, and later, a displaced person camp for Jewish refugees. The camp closed in 1950, and since then the town has become more known for it's touristic charms, but the remains of the earthen bunkers that housed the prisoners just outside town have today been turned into a holocaust memorial.

Munich has a vintage American diner. I was a skeptic. I looked at the kitschy decor, and I thought, this place is not for me. You see, it's because a lot of people here are really into classic American culture - the cars, the clothes, roadtrips down Route 66, and the diners. But sometimes it seems like a caricature, and I thought maybe this diner was all just part of that "image".

Turns out, the food is actually good, and I would say of a higher standard than a lot of diners in America. And the macaroni and cheese is the bomb! They add some tomatoes, sweet green chilies, and bread crumbs, and it is somehow the best lowbrow mac & cheese, but with a twist.

And if you want pancakes, or an American-style breakfast, this is definitely the place to come. None of the other restaurants in Munich can do pancakes quite right, but they hit the mark here.

Other than that, it's exactly what you would expect - burgers, fries, milkshakes, etc. A good stop for expats or travelers who are missing diner fare, or for Germans who are enamored with that element of American culture.